British Indian Chess Prodigy Bodhana won the Women's First Prize

Utkarsh Classes Last Updated 22-12-2023

British Indian Chess Prodigy Bodhana won the Women's First Prize

Sport 5 min read

Indian-origin British schoolgirl Bodhana Sivanandan won the title of best female chess player at the 'Super Talented' European Championship. Eight-year-old Bodhana, who lives in Harrow, northwest London, started playing chess during the lockdown due to the Covid pandemic.

Bodhana recently defeated the world's best players in a tough competition in Zagreb, Croatia. In this, Bodhana won the European Blitz Chess Championship by defeating the International Master.
Won the first prize in the European Rapid and Blitz Chess Championship, which ended in Croatia on 17 December 2023.
Bodhana won the first prize in the women's category by scoring 8.5 marks out of 13. This gave Bodhana 211.2 Blitz ELO points.
Shreyas Royal, another British Indian chess prodigy, is nine years old. Shreyas Royal has also proved his talent.

History of Chess:

Evidence of the chess game has been found from Lothal of the Indus Valley Civilization.
India is credited with the invention of chess, initially known as Ashtapada (meaning sixty-four squares).
'Ashtapada' means spider in Sanskrit. It was played with dice on a 'mythical' 8x8 checkerboard with eight legs.
In 600 AD, the game was learned by the Persians, who named it Shatranj (chess).
Even the word “checkmate” is derived from the Persian word “shah-maat” which means 'the king is dead'.

International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation (FIDE):

Established: 20 July 1924
Headquarters: Lausanne (Switzerland)
Member countries: 199 member countries
The International Chess Federation is the governing body of the game of chess. FIDE regulates all international chess competitions.
FIDE is constituted as a non-governmental organisation. FIDE organises the World Chess Championship.
FIDE was recognised as a global sports organisation by the International Olympic Committee in 1999.

All India Chess Federation (AIFC):

AIFC was formed in 1951. It is affiliated with FIDE, the world body for chess.

Role of AIFC:

To organise national level tournaments
Supporting player development and training
To facilitate participation in international competitions
To identify and nurture young talents
To represent India in international chess organisations

Major global titles won by Indian players:

Viswanathan Anand:

India's most successful chess player has been Viswanathan Anand. Viswanathan Anand received the FIDE World Chess Championship in 2000, 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2012.
Vishwanathan Anand also won the World Rapid Chess Championship in 2003 and 2017 and the World Blitz Chess Championship in 2000 and 2017. He is the only player to win world titles in all three chess formats.

Koneru Humpy (female chess player):

Koneru Humpy won the Women's World Rapid Chess Championship in the year 2019. Hampi also won the Women's Grand Prix Series in 2019–2020.

Harika Dronavalli (female chess player):

Harika Dronavalli won bronze medals in the Women's World Chess Championship in the years 2012, 2015 and 2017. Dronavalli also received the FIDE Women's Grand Prix event in Chengdu in 2016.

R Praggnanandha:

The youngest Indian Grandmaster and one of the world chess prodigies, won the World Youth Chess Championship (Under-18) in 2019. R Praggnanandhaa also received the Asian Continental Chess Championship (Open) in 2021.